Slide in Truck Camper as a Recreational Vehicle

Slide in truck campers are far and away the simplest of the RV options to engineer. Essentially, all they are is a box that sits in the bed of a pickup truck. There is no hitch to design, no suspension or tires to worry about. You do not have to pay for or maintain a separate drive line or motor (unless you have an auxiliary generator).

The simplicity of the truck camper gains some big advantages. The first is economy, slide ins are usually the cheapest of RVs to purchase, and even cheaper to own. They usually do not require a special license, there are no “road parts” to maintain, and they may be covered by your pickup or homeowner's insurance, depending on the situation.

The other advantage of simplicity is versatility. A rig with a slide in camper is certainly welcome in any full service camp ground with all the hook ups, and you can easily take the camper off the truck and use your pickup to visit the local tourist attractions. Or you can take your camper “in back of beyond”. Just about anywhere you can drive you truck, you can take your camper. Some of the best camping spots are up roads that would frighten the lug nuts off of a motorhome or travel trailer. Many trucks will have four wheel drive, which can get you into even more places. However, even without four wheel drive you can get your pickup with its slide in truck camper into some terrific and often free camping areas.

The biggest drawback to the slide in truck camper is that they are notoriously short on interior roominess. Most of the time you may not notice it. At the end of the day, when you are snuggled into your queen sized bed in the cab over, you won't notice the lack of floor space. While you are busy putting together a tasty and nutritious meal (notice how everything tastes better when you are camping?) the lack of counter space may call for some creativity, but the galley is so efficiently laid out you won't have much trouble. In fact, the only time you will feel really crowded is if there are more than two of you trying to move around inside the camper.

The manufacturers of truck campers have taken a cue from motorhome and trailer builders, and begun adding slide outs to their rigs. The slide out will add floor space to a camper, but we have to wonder if the trade off will negate some of the camper's other virtues.

A slide out will add to the initial expense of the slide in truck camper, and the mechanical parts will add to the maintenance hassles. The camper is just a big box, but when you are traveling on rough roads that box will work and flex more than you realize. This flex will have a negative effect on the slide out's seals and mechanicals.

Finally, one of the best parts of having a camper is that whenever you stop it is ready to use, but many times the slider will need to be extended just so you can get into the camper.For more information visit our website to check all truck camper in stock.